(Translation)
(Letterhead of Secretariat of Legislative Councillors
& Research Centre, Democratic Party)
13 January 1997
Mrs Vivian Kam,
CAS(1)2

Dear Mrs Kam,

In preparation for the meeting of the LegCo Panel on Housing to be held on 3rd of March, I would like to raise the following questions. Please convey these to the Housing Branch and urge for an early written reply from the Administration:

1. How many housing units are there in the four cottage areas in Hong Kong? How many households are involved? What is the total population? How many of these households are in possession of occupation permits?

2. The Government had conducted two occupancy surveys in 1975 and 1985. Were there any Government policy papers indicating the motives and policy guidelines of these surveys? Please supply copies of these documents to the Legislative Council. Apart from these surveys, had the Government conducted any other registration exercises for tenants of the cottage areas?

3. The number of "authorized persons" and "accepted unauthorized persons" recorded in the 1985 occupancy survey.

4. As pointed out in a document (OC 50/87) of the Operations Committee of the Housing Authority released in 1987, the Long-term Housing Strategy had pledged to resettle all tenants of the cottage areas between 1994 and 1995. Has this arrangement been implemented. If not, why?

5. When the Government first proceeded with the clearance of the Rennie's Mill Cottage Area, tenants concerned had been paid, apart from allocation of public housing, such special allowances as "special ex-gratia allowance", "general domestic removal allowance" and "ex-gratia removal allowance" calculated on the basis of floor area under "special circumstances". What do "special circumstances" actually mean? Please provide relevant documents from the Housing Authority.

6. Please provide details of the calculation method of the resettlement and compensation packages which had been offered to residents of the Rennie's MillCottage Area after they won the case against the Government.

7. Please provide a copy of the Judgment in the litigation brought against the Government by residents of Rennie's Mill.

8. The Housing Department is arranging for a two-phase decantation for residents of the Mt Davis Cottage Area. Are there similar arrangements for other cottage areas? Please provide details of decantation application put forward by the various cottage areas, as well as information on those residents who had been allocated public housing.

9. A major mudslide occurred in Mt Davis Cottage Area in August 1995, and there were also occasional small-scale mudslides, cracks at the retaining walls, cracking and sloping of the floor. Had the Geotechnical Engineering Office conducted a thorough inspection of the above slope? Please supply an executive summary of the inspection report?

10. Generally speaking, cottage areas are usually built on slopes. Please provide the following information on these slopes:
    1. Slope number
    2. Type of slope and history (of mudslides and instability)
    3. Stability and risk level
    4. Had slope inspection been conducted?F When and how were such inspections conducted?
    5. Is it necessary to proceed with land stabilization works? What type of stabilization works need to be conducted and what are their respective dates of completion? (signed)

Lam PuiYee
for Hon LEE Wing-tat
Chairman,
LegCo Panel on Housing

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